Knitting a modern baby blanket with Bamboo Pop Dots

Many knitters shy away from lacy baby knits because they are worried about little toes and fingers getting caught, or they don’t care for the traditional frilly look characteristic of so many blankets or trousseau pieces. While the patterns I shared with you yesterday and the day before were more stockinette based, I thought it was time to include some textured stitch patterns. Bamboo Pop Dots does such a good job at showing off textured stitches, so I thought I’d design a more modern blanket with texture and a wee bit of lace.

The amazing, durable softness of this machine washable and dryable yarn is great for baby blankets. The colors are fun, too!

The other stitches are garter stitch, ssk (slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 purlwise, return 2 sts to LH needle, knit them together through their back loops), and the standard k2tog & p2tog. Twisted stitches are also included, but there’s a video below for them.

Pairs of twisted stitches lay between each garter-stitch and lace panel across the width of the blanket.

Crossing Stitches

When you work a pair of stitches by working the second stitch on the needle before the first stitch, you are, in essence, working a cable with 2 stitches. Some people use cable needles to do this, and that’s a good starting point, but it is possible to cross stitches without a cable needle and without removing the un-knit stitches from the left-hand needle.

To work a left crossed pair (1/1CL), insert the tip of the RH needle between the first 2 stitches on the LH needle from back to front and into the front leg of the 2nd stitch. Knit this stitch without removing it from the LH needle, and in one motion, bring the tip of the RH needle from below around to the front of the first st and into its front leg, and knit it, removing both stitches from the LH needle.

To work a right crossed pair (1/1CR), insert the tip of the RH needle in the front leg of the 2nd stitch on the LH needle from below and tug at it so it lays across the first stitch. remove the RH needle tip quickly and return it into that tugged loops from front to back and knit it. Then, knit the first st on the LH needle as usual, removing both stitches from the LH needle at once.

Crossing Pairs of Stitches – YouTube

Avoid using a cable needle to cross pairs of stitches either to the left or to the right. Check out www.knitmuch.com for more!

A 2-stitch i-cord edging creates a neat border for the sides of this blanket.

To create this nifty 2-stitch i-cord edging, purl the last 2 stitches of every row, and slip the first 2 stitches of every row with the yarn in back.

The dots of Bamboo Pop Dots are very randomly placed on the yarn, but somehow still manage to appear somewhat evenly distributed across the knit fabric as if it were planned.

One skein of Bamboo Pop Dots makes this Soothing Blankie that can be machine washed and dried. If you make 2, you’ll have one for wash day!

I hope you enjoy knitting textured stitches using Bamboo Pop Dots. Tomorrow, we try 2 different kinds of brioche knitting, which also looks dazzling in this yarn because the stitches are so well defined.

About Charles Voth

I’m Charles Voth, a crochet and knitting professional. I enjoy reviewing yarns and tools to help others find materials that will help them be happy with what they stitch. I design garments and accessories and items for the home. I teach both crafts at yarn stores, in schools, and at craft shows and retail events. I am also a technical editor of both crochet and knitting patterns and illustrate the charts and diagrams that make pattern reading accessible to so many.

Search our blog…

Search for:

FREE! KNITmuch Magazine Issue 7

Click the image below to see the whole issue online FREE at any time.
PDF download is also available FREE but only for a limited time until Oct 31st.
Printed version is available HERE. See all our FREE Magazines HERE.